Middle East

Syrian Kurdish National Council rejects classifying PYD as terrorists

Emblems of Syria's Kurdish National Council (ENKS) [R], KRG's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) [M], and its Syrian branch known as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDP-S) [L] on the wall of ENKS' office in Qamishlo city, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), Syria, Feb. 18, 2017. (Photo: Kurdistan24)

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish block of the Turkey-based Syrian opposition body rejected the latter one’s call to list the Democratic Union Party (PYD) as a terrorist organization, a senior opposition official said on Monday.

The body known as the "National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces" said in a statement on Monday it "continues to consider the PYD and its security and military arms terrorist organizations."

However, Syria’s Kurdish National Council (ENKS), which is part of the Syrian opposition coalition based in Turkey, rejected the claim it considers as inaccurate.

"The Kurdish Council does not consider the PYD a terrorist organization, but we criticize their practices against the Kurdish people [in Syria]," Abdul Basset Hamo, the Vice President of the Syrian opposition's coalition, told Kurdistan24.

Hamo, a Syrian Kurdish politician, also represents ENKS in the coalition.

Hamo further pointed out the ENKS rejected the Syrian opposition's statement because it aimed at distorting the struggle for Kurdish rights before the international community.

"We are not only against the PYD’s intimidation and unaccepted practices against the Kurdish people but we also stand against the chauvinist mentality that some members of the coalition adopt toward the Kurds," he said.

It’s worth mentioning that the Syrian opposition's call to label the PYD as such was in response to a statement and memorandum by the head of the Coalition’s legal committee, Haitham Maleh, an Arab Syrian opposition figure and former judge who was among the political prisoners released by the Syrian regime during the 2011 uprising.

ENKS, a part of the Turkey-based Syrian Arab opposition, has been in political disputes with the PYD-led administration of Syria’s Kurdish-held northern areas known as Rojava.

ENKS was founded in Erbil on Oct. 26, 2011, with the support of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani.

The PYD, the main Kurdish ruling party in Rojava, is considered the political affiliate of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which effectively serves as the army of the Kurdish-led enclaves and has emerged as a key partner for the United States in fighting the Islamic State in Syria.